Elon Musk Backtracks on Major DOGE Promise— Here&#039, s Why

Elon Musk is backing off his promise to slice$ 2 trillion in U. S. federal spending as co-head of the Department of Government Performance, or DOGE—which, yes, shares its acronym with the homepage of Dogecoin, Elon Musk’s preferred cryptocurrency—shortly after the budget-slashing specific raised eyebrows among researchers on Capitol Hill. &nbsp,

In an interview with political strategist Mark Penn on Wednesday, Musk said his extra-governmental belt-tightening initiative—which Donald Trump made official in November—has a” good shot” at making federal budget cuts of up to$ 1 trillion.

That’s roughly half of the$ 2 trillion that Musk last year promised that DOGE would trim from the government’s balance sheet. The “best-case outcome,” but not necessarily the most likely one, is a$ 2 trillion haircut, according to Musk in the interview that was broadcast on his social media platform X ( previously Twitter ).

” But I do think that you kind of have to include some overage”, Musk added. ” I think if we try for$ 2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting ]$ 1 trillion ]”.

During the meeting, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO even returned to common talking points about what he deems “wasteful expenses” by U. S. federal agencies. He called the federal government” a target-rich environment for saving money” .&nbsp,

” It’s like being in a room full of goals”, Musk said. ” You you close your eyes and you can’t lose”.

On the campaign trail, Musk and Trump teased plans for the Department of Government Performance, and the newly elected president-elect officially formalized it, putting him in command alongside businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

The traders made the promise to drive for “unglamorous cost-cutting” of the federal budget deficit, which might include slashing funding for entitlement programs like Social Security.

” This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people”! Musk said in a speech in November. &nbsp,

However, budget authorities have raised concerns about the utility of Musk’s$ 2 trillion program. They noted that the U. S. government’s full voluntary resources, or the funds the federal government allocates for non-mandatory initiatives that D. O. G. E. was potentially split, is just$ 1.7 trillion—lower than the sum that Musk first vowed to trim from the government’s balance sheet.

Other critics noted that DOGE’s effect would be greatly limited as a result of its lack of legal authority and parliamentary elections ‘ restrictions. As an extra-government program, DOGE may only produce policy advice to Trump’s leadership. The quasi-official Department would need congressional allies, which it is still working on courting, to put its plans into action.

Musk opted to discuss those issues in detail during the interview on Wednesday, instead expressing his hope for an “epic outcome.”

There won’t be inflation, according to Musk, “if we can reduce the budget deficit from$ 2 trillion to$ 1 trillion and free up the economy for additional growth, so that the output of goods and services keeps up with the increase in the money supply,” Musk said. ” So that, I think, would be an epic outcome”.